"You are the best," Nelson Miller told Michael Harvey as the teenager headed out for the sudden-death denouement to his 58kg taekwondo clash with the Mexican world silver medallist, Guillermo Pérez. They were no idle words from Miller, the Cuban head coach of the British team.

A performance brimming with defiance and self-belief saw Harvey, 18, overturn a two-point deficit going into the third round to come within a disputed decision of toppling his vastly more experienced opponent. With the opening blow of the fourth round decisive, Harvey was convinced he had scored the winning point. The judges thought otherwise, and the young Mancunian now faces an anxious wait to see if Pérez can win the two fights that would allow him a crack at this evening's repechage.

"I caught his pad but obviously it wasn't hard enough or the judges missed it," said Harvey. "I thought I had a good chance going into that last round but obviously it didn't go the right way. I did well because I was up against the world silver medallist but he was there to be beaten and I'm a bit gutted that I've lost. It's great experience for London 2012 but I wanted to go a bit further."

Miller, however, remained focused on Harvey's future. "I think Michael performed quite well in his first major tournament," said the Cuban. "He was quite nervous at the beginning of the first round but it's one of the best performances from Michael. Michael is only 18 years old so while we expected a good performance this is about his preparation for 2012. Michael will be a very big surprise in 2012 and we will have a very strong team."